Merry Christmas! To bring this topic fully to the Christmas story I thought I'd include the portion of Zechariah's song where we find the word for compassion.
To set the stage of the family dynamics at play in this story: Zechariah and Elizabeth are the parents of John the Baptist. Mary, Jesus' mother, is related to Elizabeth so John then is a relative of Jesus... you get how that works. John's mission is to prepare the way for the Messiah. He calls the people of Israel to repentance and becomes an amazing prophet of God. Yet he knows his mission is only to prepare the way for the Messiah and not to be the Messiah himself. So at the birth of John, his father, Zechariah prophesies,
Luke 1:76–79 76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
This text is full of wonderful statements of Jesus' mission. For the purposes of this study today let's focus in on verse 78. In this prophecy Zechariah declares God's reason for "the sunrise (Jesus) visiting us from on high." This verse makes clear that the tender mercy, the compassion and affection of God is at the heart of the incarnation. It is the reason Jesus came into the world. John 3:16 speaks to this idea as well, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son...". Again, it is the great love and compassion of God that brought Jesus into the world.
Additional Content
So...I tried to find any version of Joy to the World that I liked on Youtube and came up empty. So go to your favorite version and give it a listen.
Reflection
As you go about your Christmas activities today pause a few times to reflect on the tender mercy of God as demonstrated in the incarnation of Jesus. Consider how the gift of Jesus, freely given to the world, demonstrates the glorious truth that God deeply cares for you.